Driver Assistance

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

We are all on a journey towards what we hope will be an accident free future, where driverless cars will take the strain combining situational awareness, driven by cameras and radar, with the computing power to performing countless complex calculations. We’re still at the early stages of that journey but are clearly seeing the building blocks falling into place in the form of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) – semi-autonomous vehicle technologies, which an increasing number of manufacturers are now offering and that the Thatcham Research Safety team have begun to evaluate. Extensive testing and impressive real world data is already showing us the benefits of autonomous braking, but what other systems have we tested, how do they work and how effective are they at stopping the crash?

“DID YOU KNOW? ‘At least one fatal sleep related crash occurs every day in the UK’

ADAS & AUTONOMY

‘Advanced Driver Assist Systems’ come in many forms, with the focus for Thatcham Research being on assessing these technologies and evaluating how they could benefit motorists and reduce risk. Modern vehicles are equipped with a wide range of cameras, radars and lidar which when required can operate both independently and in fusion with other systems. Many vehicles now have a 360° view of their immediate surroundings and are able to identify and avoid potential hazards either by warning the driver, or by automatically taking over an element of the vehicle such as braking, or steering if the driver doesn’t react.

It’s easy to see how these technologies will eventually come together to take the driving out of the human occupants’ hands altogether. By 2021 we expect to see the first driverless cars on defined segments of motorway, though it will be some time after that before they are common place and there are many challenges to overcome before then. In the meantime Thatcham Research have begun assessing the key technologies and in many cases developing globally accepted testing protocols of the technologies that will underpin the move to full autonomy.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Explained

Similar to traditional Cruise Control, with the addition of a radar that monitors the car infront so the system can keep a fixed distance. This may include ‘Stop & Go’ or ‘Queue Assist’ functionality that can slow the car to a complete stop and start driving again once a hazard ahead has cleared.

A warning system that lets you know when another vehicle is in your blind spot. This can help prevent collisions when changing lane with many manufacturers using sensors similar to parking sensors. Because these warnings may be regular, they are non-obtrusive such as a warning light in the wing mirror or interior trim.

Aimed to combat tiredness at the wheel or being distracted, these warning systems monitor performance and alert you if it senses attentiveness is affected. Most systems will give an audible alert along with a message on the dashboard display encouraging you to take a break. Advanced systems can even alert you of a potential collision if one is detected ahead.

This prevents you from losing control in a skid and has proven to be so effective, it’s been mandatory on new vehicles since 2012. It works by applying small steering and braking actions to selected wheels if it senses the car veering off course. Research shows that vehicles equipped with ESC are a huge 25% less likely to be involved in a fatal accident than those without it.

FCW systems detect potential obstacles in your path and alert you with a warning. They can also support drivers by boosting the braking input to help avoid a crash, however, unlike AEB, FCW doesn’t work automatically, it needs you to take action and apply the brakes in response to the warning.

These are a development of reversing cameras, but put into the front bumper on both sides of the car. They provide you with a real-time overview of traffic conditions when pulling out of obscured junctions, gateways or car parks and provide extra information when manoeuvring in those tight spaces.

Most of these systems use a forward facing camera mounted inside the windscreen by the rear view mirror to identify the lane markings and seeing if they are crossed. When activated typical warnings include a flashing symbol on the dashboard display or audible alert. If the indicators are used before changing lanes, the warnings are deactivated.

Building on LDW systems, this steers the car to keep a central position between lane markings. If the car starts to unintentionally cross lanes, steering and/or braking is automatically applied to return the car to the centre of the lane and a warning is sounded. On tighter bends, if lane markings are poor or the driver takes their hand off the steering wheel, LKAS automatically suspends itself.

Using infrared sensors to detect heat contrasts, these systems let you ‘see’ further into the distance. The images picked up are displayed on the sat nav or dashboard. The BMW Night Vision system with Pedestrian Recognition even monitors the images and when a pedestrian is identified, you’re alerted.

Did you know that in the UK nearly a quarter of all insurance claims are related to parking or low speed manoeuvres? There are a wide variety of parking and manoeuvring assistance systems available, in some cases even controlling the speed and driving direction on behalf of you, the driver.